


all you have is your fire

by velthomerHoe



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 08:11:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18494911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velthomerHoe/pseuds/velthomerHoe
Summary: Her father had led them to his study and sat them down on his lap, an heir on each knee.





	all you have is your fire

When she was a child, before the weight of their blood had settled around their necks and tightened, her father had led them to his study and sat them down on his lap, an heir on each knee, joined only by hands that clutched at each other loosely. Before them lay a wonderous thing, a map so impossibly grand that she could splay her arms as wide as they would go and still not hope to reach from one side to the other. 

Never before had Julia seen such an object, and her eyes followed the thickly brushed ink that danced across the paper, turning into mountains, into rivers, carving cities into its surface. Her interest must have been obvious, for her father chuckled and brought himself closer to it.

“When you come of age,” he spoke,“this shall be your empire. Every pebble in every river, every grain of sand on every shore, every life, be it man or beast, shall be yours.” 

_ My empire. _

The words felt unfamiliar on her tongue, and she longed to ask her nursemaid for honey-sweetened milk to make it more palatable, so that she might keep its weight against her tongue for a moment longer. Perhaps if she rolled it against the inside of her mouth a bit more, she could familiarize herself to its load. There was no use in owning something if she could not play with it to her heart's content.

“But do not worry, my loves. Long after you have ascended and your Lady Mother and I have been laid to rest alongside our predecessors, you shall still have each other.”

She felt the pressure on her hand tighten. Only then did she tear her gaze away from the map to meet her brother's gaze. The dim candlelight danced across Julius’ face and seemed all the brighter for it, intensifying the fire that burned within his red eyes. Not for the first time, she envied the colour. It matched the inferno housed within him, the same one that smoldered in the pit of her stomach. 

A moment passed, and she returned the squeeze before her attention shifted back to regarding the map, the weight of her brother's presence firmly beside her. 

She supposed it didn't matter if she couldn't reach from one side to the other, not when her brother could meet her in the middle, hands clasped as they were now. They played together well enough; sharing one more possession wouldn't hurt.

After all, who had a need for milk, or honey, or sugar, when their joint hellfire could set the world ablaze?

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from Hozier's "Arsonist's Lullaby", aka the song i listened to like 30 times while i wrote this


End file.
